related_results_labels({"version":"1.0","encoding":"UTF-8","feed":{"xmlns":"http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom","xmlns$openSearch":"http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/","xmlns$georss":"http://www.georss.org/georss","id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2168219303449559049"},"updated":{"$t":"2009-12-08T16:45:17.487-07:00"},"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Buck's Ghosts and Hauntings"},"subtitle":{"type":"html","$t":""},"link":[{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://bucksghosts.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2168219303449559049/posts/default/-/Salem+Massachusetts?alt\u003djson-in-script\u0026max-results\u003d5"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http://bucksghosts.blogspot.com/search/label/Salem%20Massachusetts"},{"rel":"hub","href":"http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Buck"},"uri":{"$t":"http://www.blogger.com/profile/03195661861205323477"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"}}],"generator":{"version":"7.00","uri":"http://www.blogger.com","$t":"Blogger"},"openSearch$totalResults":{"$t":"2"},"openSearch$startIndex":{"$t":"1"},"openSearch$itemsPerPage":{"$t":"5"},"entry":[{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2168219303449559049.post-9148062144551838182"},"published":{"$t":"2008-12-19T11:49:00.004-07:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2008-12-19T12:22:01.741-07:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Organizations"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Paranormal"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Investigators"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Salem Massachusetts"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Salem, MA Does The Right Thing"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003cspan class\u003d\"zemanta-img\" style\u003d\"margin: 1em; float: left; display: block; width: 250px;\"\u003e\u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/10531415@N05/2982692702\"\u003e\u003cimg src\u003d\"http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3186/2982692702_fcb6f0031b_m.jpg\" alt\u003d\"The House of Seven Gables Salem MA\" style\u003d\"border: medium none ; display: block;\" width\u003d\"240\" height\u003d\"240\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class\u003d\"zemanta-img-attribution\"\u003eImage by \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/10531415@N05/2982692702\"\u003epag2525\u003c/a\u003e via Flickr\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003eAs I mentioned previously here, the city of \u003ca href\u003d\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salem%2C_Massachusetts\" title\u003d\"Salem, Massachusetts\" rel\u003d\"wikipedia\" class\u003d\"zem_slink\"\u003eSalem, Massachusetts\u003c/a\u003e had been contacted by a group called Spirit Finders who wanted to do an investigation of the Johnathan Corey House (\u003ca href\u003d\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch_House\" title\u003d\"Witch House\" rel\u003d\"wikipedia\" class\u003d\"zem_slink\"\u003eWitch House\u003c/a\u003e). This was despite the fact that the people actually working there have never reported any activity whatsoever and their only source of \"scientific\" information about hauntings was from the self-proclaimed \"King Witch of Salem\" whose home is decorated with every stereotypical piece of bric-a-brac one can imagine. (\u003ca href\u003d\"http://bucksghosts.blogspot.com/2008/11/witching-for-ghost.html\"\u003ePrevious story here\u003c/a\u003e.)\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eUpon considering the application for a permit to conduct the investigation the Parks and Recreation Council decided to deny the permit. \u003cspan\u003e\"We have to have respect for the gravity of the injustice that occurred in 1692,\" member Chris Burke said.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eCertainly, Burke is correct. Absent any solid claims of paranormal activity there is absolutely no reason to barge into a museum with equipment just for the hell of it. This group seems to be focused on getting into a property in Salem at all costs whether there are legitimate claims or not. In other words, this would not be for the benefit of the site but rather a feather in their cap and a conquest they can crow about on their website.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cp class\u003d\"text1\"\u003eBoard member Maryann Curtin was strongly opposed to opening their doors to a group armed with night-vision camcorders, electromagnetic-force readers and tape recorders.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp class\u003d\"text1\"\u003e\"I don't see what benefit the city would get from people finding spirits there,\" she said.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp class\u003d\"text1\"\u003eSwanson said she feared that this paranormal activity \"has the possibility to overshadow or maybe distract from the historic significance we look to promot\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eEric Fraize, the self-proclaimed \"Witch King of Salem\" took issue with the board's decision saying that they should change the name of the site from the \"Witch House.\" In fact, had His Majesty bothered to check he would have found that, indeed, the site is rightfully called the Johnathon Corey House Museum and only people like him refer to it as the \"Witch House.\" The official tourist literature refers to it by it's rightful name and only references \"Witch House\" in mentioning the locals' name for the site.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eFraize, acting it seems as spokesperson for this group, also assured the board that an investigation would be good for business by bringing in the curious who would want to have their own ghostly experiences at the site. Unfortunately, increasing tourist revenue is never a good reason to do an investigation if you are truly a  \"scientific\" team and not a group who will happily \"create\" a ghost for the benefit of the marketing director.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eFurthermore, the board noted that since Spirit Finders had publicly announced their intention to hunt the site that the city had been contacted by two other paranormal groups wanting to set up dates to do the museum. As they rightly noted, if they allow the first then they would have a hard time denying permits to the other groups. Of course, what this board might not realize is that the other two would only be the tip of the iceberg. They could conceivably receive hundreds of requests in a short time.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe board also said it investigated references from Spirit Finders and found that some of the historic properties had mixed experiences.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eIn short, this was a case of a group who shot itself in the foot. Rather than try to get into a site with a history of documented phenomena they found an \"in\" with this Eric Fraize person and set their sites on an historic museum where the staff was opposed to having them come in and also where there were no claims of activity. Then, before the deal was sealed and without any respect for the public image of the site, they broke the news that they would be doing this investigation. Because they did not have the most basic respect for the process or the people involved they made sure that the board had no choice but to deny them a permit.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eHad they remained quiet or found a better and more suitable local proponent they may have been able to negotiate something. However, by acting as rank amateurs and trying to grab some free press and increase their stature they sunk their own investigation and possibly their reputation in the area.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eSalem was quite right in denying this permit and leaving the museum and its staff undisturbed by attention seeking \"investigators\" and their \"Witch King\" spokesperson.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cfieldset class\u003d\"zemanta-related\"\u003e\u003clegend class\u003d\"zemanta-related-title\"\u003eRelated articles\u003cbr /\u003e\u003c/legend\u003e\u003cul class\u003d\"zemanta-article-ul\"\u003e\u003cli class\u003d\"zemanta-article-ul-li\"\u003e\u003ca href\u003d\"http://massachusetts-travel.suite101.com/article.cfm/halloween_in_massachusetts\"\u003eHalloween in Massachusetts\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli class\u003d\"zemanta-article-ul-li\"\u003e\u003ca href\u003d\"http://bucksghosts.blogspot.com/2008/11/witching-for-ghost.html\"\u003eWitching for a Ghost\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ul\u003e\u003c/fieldset\u003e  \u003cdiv style\u003d\"margin-top: 10px; height: 15px;\" class\u003d\"zemanta-pixie\"\u003e\u003ca class\u003d\"zemanta-pixie-a\" href\u003d\"http://reblog.zemanta.com/zemified/ced5ee23-5611-4f64-81bc-e85562371c3a/\" title\u003d\"Zemified by Zemanta\"\u003e\u003cimg style\u003d\"border: medium none ; float: right;\" class\u003d\"zemanta-pixie-img\" src\u003d\"http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id\u003dced5ee23-5611-4f64-81bc-e85562371c3a\" alt\u003d\"Reblog this post [with Zemanta]\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class\u003d\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003e\u003cimg width\u003d'1' height\u003d'1' src\u003d'https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2168219303449559049-9148062144551838182?l\u003dbucksghosts.blogspot.com' alt\u003d'' /\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://bucksghosts.blogspot.com/feeds/9148062144551838182/comments/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID\u003d2168219303449559049\u0026postID\u003d9148062144551838182\u0026isPopup\u003dtrue","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2168219303449559049/posts/default/9148062144551838182"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2168219303449559049/posts/default/9148062144551838182"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http://bucksghosts.blogspot.com/2008/12/salem-ma-does-right-thing.html","title":"Salem, MA Does The Right Thing"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Buck"},"uri":{"$t":"http://www.blogger.com/profile/03195661861205323477"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$extendedProperty":{"xmlns$gd":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005","name":"OpenSocialUserId","value":"02653328012866227494"}}],"thr$total":{"xmlns$thr":"http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0","$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2168219303449559049.post-5318504267195387540"},"published":{"$t":"2008-11-22T13:07:00.004-07:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2008-11-22T15:00:32.398-07:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Paranormal"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"United States"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Investigators"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Rhode Island"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ghost"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Salem Massachusetts"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"17th century"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Witching for a Ghost"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003cspan class\u003d\"zemanta-img\" style\u003d\"margin: 1em; float: left; display: block;\"\u003e\u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/10799299@N00/1355591852\"\u003e\u003cimg src\u003d\"http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1345/1355591852_c552692a7a_m.jpg\" alt\u003d\"Witch House Salem Mass.\" style\u003d\"border: medium none ; display: block;\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cspan class\u003d\"zemanta-img-attribution\"\u003eImage by \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/10799299@N00/1355591852\"\u003ej3net\u003c/a\u003e via Flickr\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003ePardon the pun, but I couldn't resist. A group out of \u003ca href\u003d\"http://maps.google.com/maps?ll\u003d41.7,-71.5\u0026amp;spn\u003d1.0,1.0\u0026amp;q\u003d41.7,-71.5%20%28Rhode%20Island%29\u0026amp;t\u003dh\" title\u003d\"Rhode Island\" rel\u003d\"geolocation\" class\u003d\"zem_slink\"\u003eRhode Island\u003c/a\u003e has been lobbying the city of \u003ca href\u003d\"http://maps.google.com/maps?ll\u003d42.5194444444,-70.8972222222\u0026amp;spn\u003d0.1,0.1\u0026amp;q\u003d42.5194444444,-70.8972222222%20%28Salem%2C%20Massachusetts%29\u0026amp;t\u003dh\" title\u003d\"Salem, Massachusetts\" rel\u003d\"geolocation\" class\u003d\"zem_slink\"\u003eSalem, Massachusetts\u003c/a\u003e for permission to conduct an investigation in Salem's famed \"\u003ca href\u003d\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch_House\" title\u003d\"Witch House\" rel\u003d\"wikipedia\" class\u003d\"zem_slink\"\u003eWitch House\u003c/a\u003e\" (or accurately, \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.corwinhouse.org/\"\u003eThe Corwin House Museum\u003c/a\u003e).\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eThe group, Spirit Finders Paranormal Investigators, has petitioned the city for permission to conduct a full scale investigation in the historic structure that is now a museum despite the appalling lack of reputable tales of paranormal phenomena.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eThe structure's only connection to the tragic events of 1692 is the fact that one of the nine judges who oversaw the kangaroo courts owned and lived in the home. Judge Johnathan Corwin, resided in the home at the time and today the structure is operated as a museum dedicated no to \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.amazon.com/Witch-Trials/dp/B000000F6U%3FSubscriptionId%3D0G81C5DAZ03ZR9WH9X82%26tag%3Dsesw-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3DB000000F6U\" title\u003d\"The Witch Trials\" rel\u003d\"amazon\" class\u003d\"zem_slink\"\u003ethe witch trials\u003c/a\u003e but to 17th Century village life in general.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eAccording to employees, many of whom are alone in the structure after dark while performing their duties there is nothing paranormal present. Elizabeth Peterson, director of the museum swears that in all her time working in the museum she has never felt anything strange. In fact, the only people willing to come forward with tales of paranormal happenings are those with a vested interest in the paranormal.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eAccording to \u003ca href\u003d\"http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/11/22/group_hunts_for_specters_of_history/\" title\u003d\"The Boston Globe\" rel\u003d\"homepage\" class\u003d\"zem_slink\"\u003ethe Boston Globe\u003c/a\u003e, the person kick starting the ghost hunting group's fascination with this historic museum is Eric Fraize:\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"I'm firmly convinced this house is absolutely haunted,\" said the Witch King of Salem, also known as Eric Fraize, a self-described warlock and \"one of the highest-priced psychics on \u003corg idsrc\u003d\"NASDAQ\" value\u003d\"EBAY\"\u003eeBay\u003c/org\u003e.\"\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFraize suggested the Witch House to Spirit Finders as a likely hunting ground. Even the tenuous connection to the witch trials could mean restless souls still roam the place, he said, then, there was the exorcist who said the spirits of the witches followed him after he visited.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Any 370-year-old house is bound to have generational memories,\" said Fraize, dressed in black and framed by the odd array of items on his mantel: skulls, statuettes of demons, a dagger, an oath to Satan signed in his blood, and a portrait of his deceased mother.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/blockquote\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003eCertainly, the type of fellow one would expect to give a completely credible account.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eThe town is split over the plan to possibly allow the ghost hunters into the museum. Some feel it will help with tourism. After all, Peterson says that as many as 1/3 of the visitors leave immediately when they find out the house is not the home of the \"witches\" or that the museum does not reflect some occult past.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eSo, will the town allow the ghost hunt to proceed with a group whose sole source of claims is a rather dubious self-proclaimed psychic and Satanist? Hard to say, but I hope the folks listen to Ms. Peterson and politely decline the offer so they can investigate something with more solid claims.\u003cbr /\u003e  \u003cdiv style\u003d\"margin-top: 10px; height: 15px;\" class\u003d\"zemanta-pixie\"\u003e\u003ca class\u003d\"zemanta-pixie-a\" href\u003d\"http://reblog.zemanta.com/zemified/e72b5f4c-1e19-484a-9402-9bf4cf3286cd/\" title\u003d\"Zemified by Zemanta\"\u003e\u003cimg style\u003d\"border: medium none ; float: right;\" class\u003d\"zemanta-pixie-img\" src\u003d\"http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id\u003de72b5f4c-1e19-484a-9402-9bf4cf3286cd\" alt\u003d\"Reblog this post [with Zemanta]\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class\u003d\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003e\u003cimg width\u003d'1' height\u003d'1' src\u003d'https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2168219303449559049-5318504267195387540?l\u003dbucksghosts.blogspot.com' alt\u003d'' /\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://bucksghosts.blogspot.com/feeds/5318504267195387540/comments/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID\u003d2168219303449559049\u0026postID\u003d5318504267195387540\u0026isPopup\u003dtrue","title":"2 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2168219303449559049/posts/default/5318504267195387540"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2168219303449559049/posts/default/5318504267195387540"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http://bucksghosts.blogspot.com/2008/11/witching-for-ghost.html","title":"Witching for a Ghost"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Buck"},"uri":{"$t":"http://www.blogger.com/profile/03195661861205323477"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$extendedProperty":{"xmlns$gd":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005","name":"OpenSocialUserId","value":"02653328012866227494"}}],"thr$total":{"xmlns$thr":"http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0","$t":"2"}}]}});